Draft appliance



Nov. 15, 1927. I 1,648,893 I w. T. COMLEY DRAFT APPLIANCE Filed Dec. 5. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet l Suva/who's v Win50 J M 33 awe (340x3 I Nov. 15,1927. 1,648,893

w. T. COMLEY DRAFT APPLIANCE Filed Dec. 5, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 15, 1927:- 1,648,893

W. T. COMLEY DRAFT APPLIANCE Filed Dec. 5; 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR WWI/Z6144 BY W ATTORNEKS 0 Patented Nov. 15, 1 927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER T; CO'MLEY, MONTREAL, QUEBEC, GANADA, ASSIGNO'R TO FRANKLIN RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY, A CORPORATIONOF DELAWARE.

DRAFT APPLIANCE;

Application filed' December 5, 1924. Serial No. 754,045.

My invention relates to draft-appliances useful, particularly, between locomotives and their tenders. I have hereinafter ex= plained and described the invention with special reference to this use.

In ordinary practice, a locomotive and. its tender are coupled together by means of a draw bar with coupling pins through its ends. Very generally, two such bars are used, one for normal service and the other for emergency,- to prevent tender and locomotive from parting in case the service bar should break. Such a combination is known as the safety unit draw bar. Also, the locomotive and'its tender have buffers on their ends, with a chafing block inter-- posed, to take the brunt of contact" and impact between locomotive and tender. The acting faces of the chafing block and of the buffers are formed concentric with the corresponding coupling pins, so that when the angular relations between locomotiveand tender change (at curves in the track, or on abrupt changes of grade), the buffers and the chafing block remain in substantiall-y the same relations lengthwise of the draw bar. Such" buffers are commonly termed radial, in reference to the concentricity of their surfaces with the pins. Usually, one of the buffers is cylindrical-faced, with axis coincident with that of the correspond ing coupling pin, and the other is spherical.- faced, with center in line with the axis of the corresponding pin, but in the median plane of the surface itself. The chafing block isfioatingly mounted on one of the. bufiers, so that it may shift from side to side when curves in the track are encount cred, and thus remain always in the proper relation to the draw bar: i'. e., in the direct line of the coupling pins.

As the draw bar wears in service, its effective length between coupling pin centers increases, giving rise to' looseness and play be-- tween the buffers and the chafing block.

Such play not only augments the stressesand wear on the bar, but also greatly intensifies the shocks on it in starting, and thus increases the risk of breakage. Eventually, therefore, it becomes necessary to takeup the looseness', which is done by shortening the draw bar. troublesome operation, for which many round-houses are not equipped. In practice,

of conformity to the mating surface.

This, however, is a somewhattherefore, shimming is often resorted to between chafingblock and buffers: i. e., usu ally, a piece of: sheet metal is bent to conform to one of the parts and applied over its. face-v As a result, the curvature of the:

shimmed surface is altered and thrown out Such shimming, m'oreover,-being' a make-shift and not a standard practice,is often done moreor less carelessly or i nconipetently;

I aim to overcome these disadvantages of present practice, by compensating for draw baiwear without necessity for either short enrngthe draw bar o'rfshimmin g the wearing faces of bufiers or chafing block. This .can be done, I have found, by varying or alter ing the thickness ofv the chafing block; and this more. easily, expeditiously, and economaically than the draw bar length can be altered, orthe Wearing faces of buffers or chafing block shimmed, and without the obectionable features of the latter practice.

the: drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of locomotive frame and: a ten der. frame with draw bar and buffer equipment conveniently embodying my invention.

Fig- 2 shows a vertical. mid-section through the same parts, taken as indicatedby the line 2.-2 in Fig; l.

Figs; 8 and 4 are upper edge views of parts of the chafing block shown in Figs. 1 and 2, on. a: larger scale; Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the wearing faces of these parts; and: Figs. 7 and 8 show vertical sections through the same parts, taken as indicated by the lines 'Z-7 and 8-8- in Figs. 3 and 1..

Fig. 9 shows a vertical section through the complete chafing block, ready for service- Fig. 10 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1,. but more fragmentary and on a larger scale.v showing a somewhat different construction of the chafing block, with an associated part in horizontal section as indicated by the 1.1. is an edge view of the chafing block; and Fig. 12 a view of the wearing and 20 of the usual unit safety bar equipment. The ends of the bars 19 and 20 are 'secured in the pockets 1'? and 13 by the usual coupling pins 21 and 22, themselves secured in place as usual. The frames 15 and 16 also carry the radial buffers 23 and 241,-which may in practice be provided with the usual springs and other accessories (not shown). Between the buffers 23 and 24- is interposed the chafing block 25. As shown in Figs 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9, the wear face of the block 25 toward the engine is spherically concave, to conform to the correspondingly shaped face of the engine buffer 23. At this face, also, the block 25 has forward-projecting lugs 26 and 27, above and below the upper edges of the buffer 23. The upper lug 26 has a down turned flange 28 which engages or hooks behind an upstanding flange 29 on the bufl'er 23; the lower lug 27 engages beneath the buffer 23, and normally prevents the upper lug 26 from being lifted out of engagement with the flange 29. Thus the block 25 is fioatingly mounted on the engine buffer 23, free to shift from side to side under the influence of the tender buffer 2 1,-whos'e vertically cylindrical convex face engages the correspondingly concave rear face of the block 25.

As already explained, I dispense with shortening the draw bars 19, 20 to compensate for wear by altering the thickness of the chafing block 25. As here shown, I have provided for doing this by making the wear faces of the block as separable parts 30, 31,

with plane faces toward one another. The

parts 30, 31 may be secured together in any suitable and convenient manner, as by means of rivets 32 with their heads masked in countersinks 33 in the wearing surfaces. Preferably, the parts 30 and 31 have means of interengagement independently of the rivets 32: in the present instance, the front part 30 has flanges 34:, 3% at its rear forming a horizontal channel seat for the rear part 31, and the latter has flanges 35, 35

forming a Vertical channel seat for the part 30.

Initially, for new equipment, the parts 30, 31 may be secured together with a couple of thin, fiat shim plates 36, 36 between them,or even in direct contact, without any shim plates. As the draw bar 19 wears longer and longer, the thickness or number of shims 36 (or both) 'may be increased from time to time veryeasily. For this it is only necessary to drop the tender pin 22; part locomotive and tender a few inches; remove the block 25; take out the rivets 32; reshim the block, and rivet it up again; and then replace the block and recouple the. ten der. Or, if preferred, a stock of blocks 25 may be carried in every-roundhouse, ready shimmed to all thicknesses liable to be required,in which case the adjustment becomes a mere matter of changing blocks, instead of a machine shop job.

Figs. 10-13 illustrate an. arrangement which permits adjustment to be made without really parting locomotive and tender, or removing the block 25. For this purpose, the parts 30, 31 are so secured that shims can be inserted or removed with the block 25 in place between the buffers 23, 2 1. As here shown, the flanges 35 of Figs. 4 and 6 are omitted, and rearward projecting vertical flanges 37 are provided on the front part 30, in the form of plates fastened to its edges by bolts 38 in the form of cap screws. The plates have slots 39 for similar cap screws 10 that take intothe edges of the parts 31, so that thepart 31 can be se cured at any distance from the part 30 that is necessary to take the required shimming. By loosening the cap screws 10 for one of the plates 37 and removing both sets of cap screws for the other, the latter can be removed to permit reshimming and then replaced,after which both sets of cap screws can be readjusted and tightened up. All this can be done while the block 25 remains in place between the buffers 23, 24:.

WVith the parts 30 and 31 of the same width, lateral thrusts tending to shift one of the parts 30, 31 relative to the other must be taken by a direct pull on the cap screws 38, with considerable leverage. By making the rear or tender part 31 narrower than the part 30, however, this is largely obviated, owing to the tendency toward a rearward wedging actionarising from any slight relative horizontal movement of the parts 30, 31. Owing to such wedging, the actual relative movement will be very limited in any case. The bolts 41 through the slots 39 are shown with shoulders to bear against the part 31, and thus prevent them from being screwed in too tight.

I claim v 1. The combination with a draw bar and radial buffers, of a radial chafing block comprising two relatively adjustable members having wear faces for said buffers.

2. The combination with a draw barand radial buffers, of a radial chafing block adjustable in thickness between said bufiers.

3. The combination with a draw bar and radial buffers, of a radial chafing block comprising two wear members separably and 'adjustably secured together, so as to take shimming between them in compensation for wear.

4. The combination with a draw bar and radial buffers, of a radial chafing block comprising two members, and means for sepa rably and adjustably securing said members together operable .to permit shimming between said members without parting the coupled vehicles.

5. The combination with a draw bar and radial bufi'ers, of a radial chafing block comprising two members each having a wear face for a buffer, and means atthe edges of said members for adjustably securing them together removable to permit shimming between said members without parting the coupled vehicles.

6. The combination with a draw bar and radial buffers, of a chafing block with wear faces for said buffers comprising a member horizontally channeled at its back and a member engaged in said channels, with means at the vertical edges of said members for adjustably securing them together.

7. The combination with a draw bar and radial buffers, of a radial chafing block comprising members adjustable longitudinally of the draw bar relative to one another and having concave wear surfaces for the bufi'ers and plan-e juxtaposed faces.

8. A radial chafing block comprising two wear members separable to adjust its thickness.

9. A radial chafing block comprising separable wear members interengagable to prevent relative vertical and lateral shifting.

10. A radial chafing block comprising two separable wear members with means at their edges for adjustably securing them together.

11. A chafing block comprising separable wear members, with plates detachably secured to one and means for shiftably securing said plates to the other.

.12. A chafing block comprising separable wear members, with slotted plates at the edges of one, and securing bolts taking into the other and engaged in the slots of said plates.

13. A chafing block comprising separable wear members, with slotted plates at the edges of one, and securing bolts taking into the other and engaged in the slots of said plates, the wearing members taking the bolts being of less width than the distance between the flanges.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

WALTER T. COMLEY. 

